A. Rebel's Soul: A Twist on the Lens of Life

Anna's mother's pride and pursuit of perfection became a way to protect herself from her now tainted daughter. After blame, shame and rejection had been instilled, came the label of "bad girl", something Anna was not. Struggling to understand why her mother, the matriach, behaved the way she did and why her family allowed it, Anna eventually became the "troubled teen" her mother told everyone she More

At age seven Anna Leber, a.k.a. A. Rebel, was the peace-maker in her abusive and dysfunctional family. By about age ten, she was sexually abused by her music teacher. When her parents announced that her younger sister--her only sibling--was also going to have music lessons with the same teacher, Anna finally broke her code of silence. Instead of her personal hell being over, things became drastically worse overnight.

Anna's mother's pride and pursuit of perfection became a way to protect herself from her now tainted daughter. After blame, shame and rejection had been instilled, came the label of "bad girl", something Anna was not. Struggling to understand why her mother, the matriach, behaved the way she did and why her family allowed it, Anna eventually became the "troubled teen" her mother told everyone she was.

Books, 60 Minutes, documentaries, three families and friends spared Anna from the fate most teenagers with her history succumb to.

"This engaging book speaks loud and clear to each of us that we all have the same hopes and fears about acceptance and love. It tells us that regardless of where we come from, we are all victims and heroes of the human condition. Its lesson is profound--there is hope, even in the worst conditions."